Japanese BBQ

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Josiel Perez

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Josiel Perez

<i>Home Institution</i>: University of California, Riverside <i>Expected Graduation Year</i>: 2023 <i>Academic Major / Minor</i>: Political Science <i>Destination</i>: Tokyo, Japan <i>"Hello" in your host country's language</i>: ใŠใฏใ‚ˆใ†ใ€ใ“ใ‚“ใซใกใฏใ€ใ“ใ‚“ใฐใ‚“ใฏ <i>Program Provider</i>: CIS Abroad <i>Demographics</i>: Hispanic/Latinx, Multi-Racial, U.S. Immigrant, First-Generation American, First-Generation College Student, Community College Student, Transfer Student <i>Future Career Goals</i>: I aspire to work in the non-profit or public sector as a defense attorney for those who cannot afford one. Whether it be civil or criminal law, I want to be a voice for the voiceless and help the innocent. <i>Top Three Study Abroad Goals</i>: First, I aim to improve my Japanese speaking, listening, and reading skills. Second, I hope to make friends that will last me a lifetime, either locals or people from the same program. Finally, I want to experience Japanese festivals and cultural traditions firsthand.

The other day, I was invited by a Japanese friend here in the dorms to a BBQ. Since I had never experienced one here, I was immediately interested. Even before the day of the BBQ, it became clear to me just how different a BBQ is here compared to the US. I think I can describe it in a sentence: Japanese BBQs are very strict.

The first difference that I came across that surprised me was that we had to make a reservation in advance here in Japan. In the reservation, we had to say how many people were going and make a payment in advance of about 3000 yen per person. This is very different from my experiences back at home. I’m so used to just taking a grill to a public park and starting a BBQ without having to reserve in advance or have everyone pay a fee.

When we got there, I noticed something else, there is so much order to the BBQ here. When we went to the park, we had to go to a specific small area of the park that was for the purpose of BBQ and check-in. We weren’t able to do it anywhere else. Everything was set up already. The number of seats matched the number of people in the reservation. It was so shocking to me. I am so used to just going to a park, picking a spot(as long as it is allowed), and setting up on my own. There is no one to make sure I checked in to a BBQ. There is no one there to police us on how to BBQ. You are free to do as you please(within reason of course) So it was most certainly a surprise.